Benalla Saints young gun Xavier Wapling was among the 22 Goulburn Valley League representatives that took it right up to the Ovens & Murray in a memorable under-18 interleague clash at WJ Findlay Reserve on Saturday, with the ability to win the 50-50 moments all that separated the two sides.
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With six lead changes and the margin failing to wander beyond a goal until the late stages of the game, the GV produced a gallant showing as each league’s rising stars showcased their skill set.
O&M’s Kade Hadley had the first say, but industrious GVL and Shepparton ruckman Liam Broom wasn’t far off with a reply, chopping off an errant defensive kick out and calmly slotting the first of the game for the visitor.
Mansfield’s Sam Guppy provided some run and dash out of the back half for the GV, but O&M managed to steal a seven-point advantage heading into quarter-time courtesy of Corey Peterson.
Noah Muir (Shepparton) and Charlie Isaac (Kyabram) both goaled early in the second to hand the GVL the lead for the first time, while a threatening O&M’s rapid transition footy was only undone by an inaccurate run of four behinds, broken by Will Robertson.
Mooroopna bull Oscar Emanuelli lifted a notch with some good work out of the contest for a goal, again answered by O&M , which went into half-time holding a five-point buffer.
Adam Storer initiated the game’s fourth lead change with a goal inside a minute after half-time, as Oscar Lambourn and Guppy continued to repel probing inside-50 entries.
Rory Duffy’s running goal, followed by Muir’s second and Hudson Kellet’s goal out of the contest, saw the GVL out to a game-high 12-point lead, O&M’s Isaiah Robertson keeping it in it with two goals of his own.
Heading into the final stanza with a goal the difference, the GVL could sense its first win since 2019.
But while Lambourn provided the sole strike of the quarter for the GV, it was beset by a raging Robertson, whose pivotal pair of goals in the fourth quarter would eventually earn best-on-ground honours.
The 10.13 (73) to 9.6 (60) victory hands the O&M its third consecutive win in the fixture, but despite ruing what could have been, GVL coach Ramadan Yze was buoyed by the ability of his players to shake a slow start.
“Disappointed we didn’t get the result, obviously, but the boys never gave up,” Yze said.
“I thought (O&M) worked harder than we did without the footy, but to the boys’ credit they fought it right to the end.
“I think it was just a mindset change for the boys; they realised they were up to it and can compete with the best.
“To their credit, they fought back into the contest, and they were up at three-quarter time, they just couldn’t hang on.
“I think they did their clubs proud and the league proud. What these kids produced I thought was magnificent.”
O’Halloran helps GVL to thrilling 17-and-under crown
Over on the court, Benalla’s Heidi O’Halloran was part of a thrilling come from behind victory for the GVL, who snatched a nailbiting two-goal triumph.
In a 17-and-under clash that twisted, turned and, ultimately, erupted into one of the day’s most compelling storylines, the GVL’s rising stars snatched victory from what had looked like a sure defeat: a 52-50 triumph carved from resilience.
This wasn’t just a win. It was a heist.
For almost the whole game, the narrative leaned O&M as the host started slick, structured and, seemingly, a step ahead.
Picking up the ball out wide on the gain and slinging it back into the arc, black and yellow bodies were seemingly everywhere as midcourter Rhani Hendy tried her best to stop the flow.
Make no mistake, the GVL was hot on the host’s heels as Rose Byrne popped them through every minute — but despite staying close, the girls in purple were a step behind throughout the first 25 minutes.
Hendy whacked on the centre bib, allowing Ava Pell to bomb up the wing and increase the frequency of feed into Byrne, who levelled the game up moments before the half.
The GVL stole a lead at the break, but the O&M started harder and faster, seeing only one or two goals separate the sides for the duration of quarter before the host punished it for not building on an earlier lead.
Down by four goals with one term to play, it looked like the GVL’s luck had run dry.
But then something shifted.
Bit by bit, goal by goal, the GVL began chipping away at the deficit as the purple wave began to crest, seeing intensity — and the travelling supporters’ voices — rise elementally.
Suddenly, the court felt different. Suddenly, so did the GVL.
And if Hendy lit the spark, Byrne brought the fire.
She made pressure her playground in the dying minutes, killing the deficit dead before Jinaya Nurse gave the GVL its go ahead goal.
One more followed, then the siren, the scoreboard reading 52-50 — a result wrestled, not handed.
It was the kind of win that lingers in minds of those watching and one who sure won’t forget any time soon is coach Matt Healey.
“I spoke to the girls before the game about simplicity today, executing the things that we wanted to execute as well as we possibly could, and to be the higher intensity team for the whole game,” he said.
“I think that they were able to execute that today against a really, really good team.
“There was no gap in terms of the intensity between the two teams, but we were able to stay where we wanted to be, be in the game when it mattered, and be able to sneak over the top at the end.”